a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bridge module, a plurality of which may be transported in folded form to a site and assembled on site to form a bridge.
b. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that bridges can be assembled from a spaced-apart pair of main girders which are appropriately positioned and from deck members subsequently positioned to span the space between the main girders. In military applications, the main girders are often spaced apart such that each can receive a respective track of a heavy vehicle such as a tank. The deck members are needed so that lighter vehicles which are narrower than tanks can also use the bridge once assembled.
It can take a considerable time to build bridges in this way, often under circumstances in which time is at a premium. Further, for a bridge of a given length to be assembled in as short a time as possible, it is desirable for the components to be as large as possible so that only a few of them need be joined together. However, the transportation of long bridge girders and lrge deck members poses many problems.